HC raps funds delay to child care institutions

Lucknow: A Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court has expressed displeasure over repeated delays in release of funds to child care institutions under the Mission Vatsalya scheme, observing that issues concerning children’s welfare require a permanent and time-bound mechanism instead of ad-hoc solutions.

A division bench of Justice Rajan Roy and Justice Jaspreet Singh passed the order while hearing a PIL pending since 2008 in the matter titled Anoop Gupta, related to the welfare of children living in shelter homes. The next hearing has been fixed for May 27.

During the hearing, the state govt informed the court that release of Rs 1 crore assistance to Drishti Samajik Sansthan could only be processed after a meeting of the Project Approval Board. The meeting, earlier scheduled for April 27, had now been deferred to May 12.

The court was also informed that a new financial arrangement has been introduced under the Sparsh scheme. Earlier, payments were made through a centralized cyber treasury system at the national level, which led to practical difficulties. Under the revised mechanism, payments are now proposed to be made at the district level, though approval for the current financial year still depends on the board meeting.

Taking exception to the delay, the bench observed that since the financial year had commenced on April 1, the board meeting ought to have been held before that date. The court said if welfare funds meant for children were not released on time, the very objective of the scheme would stand defeated.

The bench also recorded that the institution’s management had been forced to borrow money from the market to continue caring for children and that lenders were now unwilling to extend further assistance. The court directed the Union ministry of women and child development to ensure that board meetings were held in advance in future.